How Could I Ever Forget?
by gleeme33
Summary: She was five or six months old when she died. One-shot.


**So my mom promised me concert tickets for my birthday, but the only day that we can see **_**Glee Live! **_**is when we're away, so that's not happening. :( But that's okay, because I asked if those concert tickets could turn into Broadway tickets and my mom said yes! :) So, I have to pick something to see, and if I really can't decide maybe I'll post a poll on here. Anyway, the title of this one-shot is based off of the song by the same title from the musical **_**Next To Normal**_**. And, prepare yourself, this will be sad. I tried to put hints of Finchel in here but it's mainly just about Rachel, and it doesn't really have that much Finn in here, but I tried. :) Thanks and enjoy.**

_How Could I Ever Forget?_

"So…you haven't cleaned out my room yet? It's been sixteen years, I thought you would have cleaned up in here by now…" But Rachel stopped herself, sighing. She was talking to no one.

Sixteen years. Sixteen _long _years. Rachel took a breath, still unable to step into her old her bedroom. It was almost funny –most teenagers spend all of their free time up in their rooms, but now…now she couldn't even walk into hers. _You can do this… _She told herself…but sadly, she lied. _You can do this… You can do this… You can do this! Just put one foot in front of the other and then you won't even realize that you've gone anywhere by the time you're there. You can do this!_ Taking another deep breath, Rachel opened the old creaking door.

She winced, and closed her eyes, as if out of reflex or reaction. _Oh, come on! _She told herself. _This isn't so bad! _For Rachel, though, it was. She counted to three and opened her eyes, and marveled for a second at what she saw before any other emotions or thoughts entered her mind.

Then she remembered.

All those years ago…she was so young…

She was a baby – barley a few months old. She didn't remember it. Part of her, though, wished she did. _What did it feel like?_ Rachel wondered. _Did it hurt? Did it feel…relieving? _Now she can only wonder. _How could I ever forget? _She was barley a few months old. She was _so _young… Rachel felt a tear creep down her check. She took a step back and took a long breath, again. Her very heart ached. She looked around again, really _seeing _this time. Her room was more of a nursery then a room, really. She _was _just five or six months old, anyway. There was pink everywhere. Cute stuffed animals and dolls lined the white shelves. A crib sat there, and Rachel grabbed one of the bars and spun the mobile above a few times. A small, pink and gold music box caught her eye. _Oh. _She smiled suddenly, a memory tethered to that music box that sat on the shelf. She opened it, and a tiny ballet dancer spun around as a sweet melody played.

"Hello?"

Was someone coming up stairs? No one ever came up stairs! _This room _was up stairs!

"Hello? Mr. and Mr. Berry? Are either of you here? Hello?" Rachel started to panic. She closed the music box and sat it back down on the shelf. Before she had time to run anywhere, two boys clomped into the room, carrying armfuls of large, brown boxes.

"Puck, I don't think anyone's home," said the taller of the two boys. "Should we come back later?"

"Nah," said 'Puck'. "Maybe we should start now, Finn. I mean, that is what they're paying us for anyway!"

"I guess you're right…" Finn said as he and Puck started to put the boxes down on the ground.

"To think…" Puck started. "They didn't clean out her room for sixteen _years_…"

"Maybe they wanted to believe that she was still here," Finn said. "I mean, my dad died when I was three, and my mom still has his chair in the living room…"

Their words stung Rachel's heart, but their actions hurt even more. How dare her fathers hire some teenage boys to clean out her room!

"It's kind of freaky…" Puck murmured. "I mean…this girl…what was her name again?"

"Rachel, I think."

"Okay then, Rachel…to think that Rachel…_died _in here."

_No…_ Rachel gasped. _He said the 'd' word! How could he be so rude! _

"Yeah…"

Finn and Puck have heard the story. Every teenager in Lima had. Rachel Berry would have been the same age as they were. But she died, in her sleep, according to the story. She was a baby, only five or six months old, and she was…sick. They didn't know what she was sick with – no one but her fathers did – but she was sick for a long time, and as she slept, her heart gave out. Now it was Puck and Finn's job to pack up her nursery.

Rachel was tearing up. She wished they could see her now, right next to them. As Finn started packing up some of her old things, Puck had pulled up a _Google _page on his phone, searching for 'how to take apart a crib'. Finn looked right through her, like she wasn't even there. Then again…she _wasn't_. Not _really_, anyway. Finn put away many of her things into boxes by this time, and had found that same music box that Rachel was using just before the boys came in. He studied it, opened it, and watched the tiny ballerina twirl along to the pretty melody that filled the air. Edged into the bottom of it were her initials – _RB_

"Who were you?" Finn whispered. "Who would you have been?"

"F-Finn…" Rachel murmured his name, this boy who maybe could have been a...friend. If she had only lived that long. "Look at me. _Look _at me. _See _me. I'm still here. I'm – "

"Well, I think that's it for now, you can't really do much more without Mr. and Mr. Berry here." Puck said. "Let's come back tomorrow."

…_How could I ever forget?_

_This was the moment _

_My life was set_

_That day that I lost you_

_It's clear as the day we met_

_How could I ever forget?_


End file.
